Federal Employees Could Advance Faster Under OPM Promotion Proposal
Federal workers could see promotions faster under a new rule proposed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
The rule– published in the Federal Register– would end the “time-in-grade” (TIG) limit on promotions for federal employees in General Schedule (GS) positions. Currently, GS employees must wait at least 52 weeks before becoming eligible for a promotion to the next grade level.
Employees would still be required to meet OPM qualification standards and any additional job-related agency requirements before getting the accelerated promotion.
“Federal employees should be rewarded for what they can do, not how long they have waited,” said OPM Director Scott Kupor.
Helping Recruitment and Retention
TIG dates to 1950 and was originally put in place to prevent a top-heavy workforce from being promoted too quickly, as happened during World War II and the Korean War. The Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) of 1978 eliminated the statutory requirement for TIG, but OPM has been keeping it alive via regulation.
OPM now says TIG is outdated and that eliminating it will help agencies with recruitment and retention and ensure that promotions are based on performance, not an “arbitrary waiting period.”
The proposal also aims to fix “inconsistencies” between federal pay systems. For example, GS employees are on the time-in-grade waiting period while excepted service and Federal Wage Grade employees are not.
“Eliminating TIG enables any federal competitive service GS employee (regardless of current occupation or grade), who meets the qualification standards for a particular position, to become eligible for promotion to a competitive service GS position,” wrote OPM. “Thus, promotions will have a more skills-based focus without TIG.”
It’s the latest attempt to end time-in-grade. Previous attempts by the Clinton administration and the George W. Bush administration were unsuccessful.
Comments on the proposal must be received on or by July 27, 2026.
